Something Different

by Allegra Johnson

  MacKenzie pulled back from the kiss, taking the ring box in her hand. “It’s so big.”

  “That’s what she said.”

  MacKenzie smiled and laughed. “Dork.” She rolled her eyes, then straightened up and held out her hand. “Well, are you gonna put the ring on it?”

  Oh yes, he was putting a ring on it. She was his forever, the love he’d been searching for. His happy ever after. The whole fairy tale.

  The GDMF End!

  Thank you for reading.

  I hope you enjoyed Something Different, book .05 of The Silverton Series.

  Please consider leaving a review.

  You can continue reading for a sneak peek at Something Real, Book 1 of The Silverton Series.

  Taylyn is done looking for love. Every relationship she's had has ended in heartbreak. And the occasional arrest and restraining order. Fresh off a nasty breakup, swearing to never get into another relationship, Taylyn is prepared to live the single life. Never say never.

  Declan was destined for the NFL until a dirty hit took him out of the game for good. He's back in Silverton rebuilding his life without football. Before he left for college he shared one amazing kiss with the girl he always wanted but never had. Now he's back, and she's single. This time he's going to get the girl. He just needs to convince her he's not like all the others. Wishful thinking.

  Can Taylyn allow herself to believe in love again? Can Declan prove he's the one made to love her? Will they find a love that is Something Real?

  Excerpt

  Late February…

  They were at bar number three on Ella’s 21st Birthday Bar Crawl and Taylyn was feeling really good as she danced with her two best friends. It was shaping up to be a perfect girls’ night out after a perfectly shitty week. Her boss was an asshole, her boyfriend was being a dick, and her allergies could just suck balls. Tayyn shook off the negative thoughts, hooking an arm around each of her girls and hugging them in tight. Raising her voice over the pounding music, she shouted, “I love you guys so much!” She squeezed them tighter. “We should get another drink. I’m thirsty. And it’s Ella’s Birthday! Woo-woo, party!” She twirled around and started toward the stairs.

  Ella caught up with her at the staircase, dragging Autumn behind. “We should do another shot. And maybe hit another bar. This one is kinda lame. There’s a bunch of old people here.”

  Tay laughed at Ella’s wrinkled nose. “Hey, I told you it would be. It’s a sports pub, not a party club. We should head to Providence,” she replied before heading down the stairs.

  Arriving at the bar first, Taylyn ordered a round of Fireballs and turned to face her friends. “I still can’t believe we have a limo for the whole night to take us anywhere. We really should go to Providence, though, the club scene is much better. What do you say? What the—?”

  Taylyn saw red. Trent was over there in the corner playing pool. Not a big deal, normally—the addition of the blonde whore was a huge deal. Especially the way he was grinding up against her when she bent over to take a shot. Trent was her boyfriend, dammit! Or he was supposed to be. Son of a bitch!

  Before she knew it, she found herself yanking Trent away from the blonde and punching his jaw hard enough to knock him off balance. She followed that shot with a left hook gut punch. Just as she raised her right hand, a larger hand covered her own, halting her progress.

  She froze. She didn’t remember walking over there, didn’t remember anything past seeing Trent from across the room. Shit. Now the hand that had stopped her was a wall of a brawny man standing in front of her and looking none too happy to be there. Fuck.

  The bouncer looked over his shoulder and called out, “Is he all right?” A muffled reply came from behind the man. Tay peeked around him to see Trent sitting on the floor, cradling his jaw with one hand and clutching his stomach with the other. A feeling of pride swelled in her for just a moment before the bouncer’s voice brought her back to her predicament. “Get out of here. Now. And don’t come back.”

  “Yes, sir. No problem. I’m gone.” Taylyn turned on her heel and power walked out the door. She could her Ella yelling in the background and Autumn verbally coaxing Ella out the door while profusely apologizing to everyone in their path.

  The blast of cold air that surrounded her as she left the club was enough to erase the buzz she’d had going but not enough to cool her temper. Taylyn hurried across the street, heading for the limousine on the other side of the public parking lot. Ella and Autumn caught up with her, halting her in the middle of the parking lot.

  “What the hell was that?” Ella asked her with a hint of anger in her voice.

  Tay supposed she had a right to be angry; this was supposed to be her night and Tay was ruining it. With a sigh and what she hoped was an apologetic face, she said, “I’m sorry, Ella, I don’t know what happened. I just saw him there with that bitch, and I guess I lost it. Let’s just get out of here.”

  Ella gave a nonverbal grunt then stomped toward the limo. Shit, she’d fucked up again. When was she going to learn? She needed to stop doing this to herself, to her friends. Before she lost them too. If she lost Ella and Autumn, there’d be no reason to go on. They were the only ones that cared about her. And she was always fucking up; she needed to get a handle on her temper.

  A soft touch on her hand brought her back to the present. She looked over to Autumn standing beside her. “It’s not your fault. Trent’s a douchecanoe. You deserve better. Ella will be okay. Just give her another shot.” Autumn smiled.

  “I’m such a fuck up. I don’t deserve anything good, especially you girls.” Taylyn walked away with her head down.

  Emotions battled with every step. She wanted to cry, she wanted to hit something, she wanted to . . . She spotted a baseball bat lying on the ground and picked it up. Taylyn glanced around the parking lot and saw Trent’s blue Lexus parked a few rows over. Smiling to herself, she started walking toward the Lexus. Ella’s voice caught her attention, and she turned slightly to see she had joined Autumn just a few feet away.

  “Tay, where are you going?” Ella asked, her voice laced with worry.

  “Hmm? Oh, batting practice.” Tay continued walking toward the car. She could hear her girls hurrying to catch up with her.

  “Tay, NO!” the girls screamed in unison.

  “Shit, we’re gonna need bail money.”

  The smashing sound of bat hitting headlight was covered by the sirens of the cops arriving on the scene just in time to see the bat shatter the windshield. Taylyn made her way around the Lexus, letting every emotion out with each crack of the bat. Trent had said he loved her. Liar!

  Crash!

  There went the taillight, its red glass lying in pieces at her feet. Shattered into jagged pieces just like her heart. Again.

  Taylyn felt the bat being torn from her grip. She felt a forceful hand at the center of her back, and she was bent over the trunk of the car. Her tears finally fell as the officer went through the arrest procedure. The chill of the cuffs binding her wrists behind her back was almost routine. No, she didn’t have any other weapons. Yes, she understood her rights. Through blurry eyes, she saw her girls standing on the sidelines watching everything. Taylyn could only think of how she’d fucked up again. This had to be the last time. There was no way Ella and Autumn were going to forgive her. This was it; she was all alone and only had herself to blame.

  ~*~

  Ella stood with her arm around Autumn’s shoulder, watching as the officer led Tay to the back of his car and helped her inside. This sucked. “Well, I guess the party is over.”

  “Yeah, it’s fun and games until the cops show up.” Autumn sighed. “Poor Tay. You know she’s beating herself up, right?”

  “I know. Do you think they’ll let us talk to her? Before they leave?” She was already walking to the cruiser, leaving Autumn to catch up to her. “Excuse me, Officer. Um, can I just speak to Tay for a second? Please?”

  The officer turned a kind face to Ella. “Sure,
come on.” He led the girls to the side of the car and opened the door.

  Taylyn’s head was bowed, shoulders slumped and trembling. There was sniffle followed by a quiet groan. Ella knew Tay was berating herself. She had to let her know they were there for her, that her girls would always be there for her. “It’s gonna be all right. We’re here for you. Always. You know that.” Ella bent down, reached into the car, and one-arm side hugged her best friend. “We love ya, Tay. Everything is gonna be okay, I promise.” She placed a kiss on Taylyn’s wet cheek and pulled away.

  Turning to face the sergeant, she asked, “Will there be bail? Do you know how much?”

  “I’m sure the magistrate will set bail, but I’m not sure how much.” He reached into the chest pocket of his uniform. “Here’s my card. Give me a call in a few hours. I’ll know more then.”

  ~*~

  Ella pulled her Jeep up alongside her mother’s SUV to park. It was just after eight o’clock, and the morning rush should be just about over. Ella turned to Autumn. “Well, let's see how this goes. You know she’s gonna blame me, right?”

  Autumn offered a small smile but no words in return. They turned to get out of the Jeep. Ella met Autumn around the other side, and together they walked into the back of her mother’s café. She sent up a silent prayer for understanding and a resolution from her mother.

  They walked through the kitchen and into the café, looking around for MacKenzie. Ella caught her sister-in-law’s attention. “Where’s Ma?”

  Candy pointed down the hall toward the office. Ella nodded as a thank you and pulled Autumn behind her. She was not facing the wrath of MacKenzie alone. Oh, hell no.

  She entered the office and looked around. Seeing it empty, she made her way to the staircase leading up to her mother’s apartment. At the top of the stairs, she could hear Sebastian’s bold laughter and smiled to herself. As the girls followed the sound of quiet conversation to the kitchen, she cleared her throat and tried to play it casual. “Hey, what’s up?”

  “What are you doing here? I thought you’d be sleeping off your first hangover.” MacKenzie asked Ella, a bright smile gracing her face before Ella’s reply came.

  “Yeah, about that . . . there was an incident last night, and . . .” Ella froze at the Medusa-like stare coming from her mother, the smile complete erased.

  “What happened this time? What did you do now?” Anger laced her words.

  Ella jumped at her mother’s tone, defending herself loudly, “I didn’t do anything! It wasn’t me this time. It was Tay.” Her words softened at the last sentence. “It’s bad, Ma, really bad. She was arrested. It wasn’t her fault, though,” she finished in a firm voice.

  MacKenzie sat down on the table bench and took a deep calming breath before asking, “What happen? Why was Taylyn arrested?”

  “Trent was at Lucky’s last night and had some chick with him. Tay got mad and she might have punched him. Twice. She may have also used his car for batting practice . . . I mean, that’s what may have happened, given the circumstances of the situation she found herself in at the time of these alleged acts of violence and destruction. Maybe.” Ella down onto the chair, seemingly exhausted from her retelling the events of the night before.

  “Oh shit, this is bad.” MacKenzie blew out a breath. “Where is she?” She stood up and began pacing and muttering to herself.

  “Silverton. They arrested her last night at the scene. I think her arraignment is this morning. I’m not sure what her bail is going to be yet. Sergeant Miller said the magistrate hadn’t seen her yet when I called this morning.” She gave her mother a pleading look. “Ma, you have to help, please. You know her parents won’t help her. They’ll leave her in jail to rot because she’s not the cheering princess.” Ella spit out in a disgusted tone.

  “I know! Just let me think, will you?” MacKenzie continued her pacing. “I guess I should start by calling the station and seeing what’s what.” She picked up the landline and dialed.

  “What’s happened? I’m confused.” Sebastian spoke up finally. “Should I be concerned that your mum knows the police station number by heart? She didn’t even look it up!” He continued to watch MacKenzie as she spoke, then waited and spoke again.

  “Oh, I forgot you were still here. How're things? Did you guys set a date yet?” Ella avoided answering his questions by asking her own.

  “You’re avoidance is not making me feel any better,” Sebastian grumbled back at her.

  MacKenzie hung up the phone and faced the crowd waiting for her. “She’s on her way to the courthouse now for arraignment. Taylyn is facing some steep chargers. The issue of bail will be addressed later.” She paused to take a deep breath. “Why don’t you two stay here and help Candy downstairs? I’ll go get our Tay and bring her back home here. We’ll figure out everything after that. She needs her family now, and that’s us.”

  Ella let out the biggest sigh of relief; she knew she’d be able to count on her mother. MacKenzie was the best mother anyone could ask for, even if those kids were only hers through friendships. Ella went to her mother, wrapped her in a tight hug, and whispered her feelings into her ear. “I love you, Ma. You are the best mother on earth. I knew I could count on you. I knew Tay could count on you. Thank you so much.” She squeezed her mother again. “For everything. Always.”

  Something Real, coming 2019.

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